Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech

Rating:
Summary: If Money is Speech, Speech is Not Free
Review: Cass Sunstein begins with a thesis that is very simple. I'd explain it like this. "Speech is not free if ordinary citizens do not possess it." Then, he elaborates on this fundamental idea in great detail.

The problem is that our courts over many years have defined speech as something similar to a market commodity. Now, it's equated with access to TV and radio, which is purchased at a very high price. Some politicians like to say "money is speech" in this electronic age. The courts are more circumspect, of course, but they seldom view speech in terms of the actual results.

Sunstein believes that the primary result desired by James Madison, "the father of our US Constitution," is an inspired, well-informed, citizenry educated by the free flow of ideas. So, he terms this view of free speech the "Madisonian Ideal."

Madison's view of freedom, and free speech, was always balanced with his ideas about Democracy, Sunstein says. Under Democracy, we expect freedom, equality, and justice, all three together. This expectation comes from the second paragraph of our Declaration of Independence and was reinforced by those last few, and very inspiring, lines of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. In terms of modern consumerism, we'd call it a package deal.

But, the court decisions in many free speech cases promise only freedom. There is not enough thought given to equality and justice. Thus, the longterm survival of free speech is threatened by court interpretations of freedom that are too narrow and do not consider the actual results. One of the worst of those results is the obvious frustration of serious discussion of the public issues by the influence of money.

To be honest, this book is not very easy to read. Sunstein's style of writing is technical and legal. It's well worth the effort, though, if you care either way about the issue of campaign finance reform. It's a must-read in that case.

Two nice companions to this book would be "Money and Politics: Financing Our Elections Democratically," by David Donnelly and others, and "If Buckley Fell: A First Amendment Blueprint for Regulating Money in Politics" by Joshua Rosenkranz and others.